Method of randomly selecting a playing card for a Casino game

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for achieving an accurate randomly selected playing card, quickly, economically and in a secure fashion to be used in determining the winners and losers of Casino games, both existing and those to be designed in the future. It incorporates a double random selection process to add another level of security to the outcome.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern casinos face many challenges to maintain customer appeal, profitable games and the security thereof. Higher costs of labor and operating expenses have put a strain on existing table games. Additionally, the costs associated with ensuring that the games are operated honestly and fairly have become quite significant.

For example, the game of Roulette requires a roulette wheel and bowl mechanism finely machined to a zero tolerance. This assembly must be monitored very closely to make sure that it is always spinning freely and level. Surprisingly enough, some roulette dealers innocently spin the wheel and throw the ball in a fashion that creates a preponderance of certain numbers.

A Dice game requires two precision-made square dice, which are zealously guarded and checked frequently to make sure they haven't been tampered with as that could cost the casino dearly. Each table uses about a six pair of dice per shift, a significant cost over a period of time.

A Blackjack game has the problems of keeping the decks free of markings or crimping, protecting the hole card and deterring the card counters.

No matter what type of casino game is discussed, the common point of all of them is that they must be completely random at all times. Once that is achieved, payoffs can be adjusted to obtain the desired earning potential.

So what is needed is an inexpensive secure decision-making device or process whose outcome is virtually immune to mechanical defects or influenced by some outside factor.

Wayne Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,200 states that dealing three cards off the top of the deck is a random event. There are a multitude of people that can deal you any three cards you want off the top of a deck in which they shuffle and handle. He also mentions that the dealer could continue dealing additional hands from the deck. True randomness is compromised by all of the previously played cards and gives the players intelligence of which wagers are more advantageous than others because of that. Case in point; look at what happened in Blackjack with the card counters.

Teofilo Gutierrez in Pat. No. Re. 36,739 states that pairs of cards will be exposed from a single deck until there is an unmatched pair. Then those cards will be wagered on as to which one will be matched up in subsequent deals. What if the first two cards made a pair and the second two cards were unmatched but one of them was the same rank as the first two cards. One match would be three times more likely to happen than the other, yet both would pay the same. This imbalance could be very costly. He also mentions that subsequent hands are played from the same deck. Again, same as before, true randomness is compromised and gives the player an advantage.

Blair Bucan in U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,483 uses two abbreviated decks. Each player receives three cards from the first deck. The dealer then turns the top card of the second deck until one player has made a match of all three of his cards against the upturned cards, thereby winning the pot. Potentially, there could be one winner with eight losers. It would be very difficult for the dealer to monitor the players' matched card(s) status.

Mark Preston in U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,577 uses two decks. Each player receives three cards from the first deck. The dealer then turns the top card of the second deck until the earlier of (a) one player having matched all three of his cards to the up-turned cards or (b) the dealer has turned nine cards of the second deck. If no player has made a match of all three of his cards, then the player with the highest three-card poker hand wins the pot. The odds against the matching of all three cards with nine cards drawn are huge, so the matching process is superfluous.

Keith Henry in U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,345 uses two decks. Five cards are dealt as a common hand for all players. A single reference card is dealt from the second deck. If one of the five cards is an exact match, rank and suit, to the reference card, the players win three to two. The odds of achieving an exact match with five cards are approximately one in every 10.6 hands. That means no player wins for 9.6 hands.

None of the aforementioned processes quite fill the need for use in a casino environment where game security is of utmost importance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for achieving an accurate randomly selected playing card, quickly, economically and in a secure fashion to be used in determining the winners and losers of Casino games, both existing and those to be designed in the future. The double random selection process adds another level of security to the outcome.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The drawing is a flow chart of the random selection process of obtaining a winning playing card to be used in determining winners and losers of casino games.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention utilizes two identical decks of playing cards. One deck is designated as the Target deck and the other deck is designated as the Matching deck. Each deck is shuffled and set aside. The dealer will draw a card from the top of the Target deck and place it on the layout. The dealer will then draw a card from the top of the Matching deck and place it on the layout next to the Target card. The cards are examined to see if they match each other in rank. If they do match, the dealer declares the rank and suit of the Matching card as the winner of the hand. The decks are then reshuffled and the process starts over.

If they don't match then the dealer repeats the process of drawing the top card from each of the decks until a match is made. In the event that the entire decks are depleted and no match was made, then all of the wagers in the game tie or push, neither winning nor losing. Any wagers on a “No Match” proposition would win.

While in this embodiment the process is conducted with two standard fifty-two playing card decks, those of ordinary skill will appreciate that other decks having more or less cards utilizing the standard fifty-two-card deck as the base are also possible, i.e., eight each often ranks, etc. Other decks made up of symbols and/or designs; such as the twelve signs of the Zodiac, are also possible. The important aspect of all of the decks is that they must be identical to each other to support the double random decision process.

While the present invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that variations and modifications such as dealing shoes, automatic card shufflers or performing the decision process on a video terminal can be made within the scope and spirit of the invention. 

1. A method of randomly selecting a playing card to be used in a casino game in steps of: utilizing two identical decks of fifty-two playing cards, individually shuffled; one being designated as the Target deck and the other being designated as the Matching deck; drawing the top card from each deck and comparing them to ascertain if they match each other in rank, if the two cards match then the Matching card's rank and suit is declared the winning combination and the hand is over; otherwise, if the two cards do not match, then the process of drawing the next two top cards and comparing them continues until a match is made, at which time the Matching card's rank and suit is declared the winning combination and the hand is over; in the event that the entire decks are depleted and no match is made, then all bets tie or push, with none winning or losing, except for a wager denoting that no match will be made. 